The Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) announced the winners of its annual global media excellence awards at a gala event in London on 9 November 2011.
The AIB Awards are unique in broadcasting because of their independence from commercial interests – an independent panel of judges consisting of respected professionals from the broadcasting and wider media industries selected the winners from entries submitted from all over the world.
Categories covered by the AIBs include separate awards for radio and television, cross-media productions, as well as awards for innovation in marketing, use of technology, and a People’s Choice award where the public determined the winner in the category ‘Best coverage of Democracy Uprisings’ via online voting on Yahoo! Maktoob.
Simon Spanswick, AIB CEO said: The range and quality of entries was outstanding what particularly struck me and the judges this year was the great work in cross-media where tight integration of content and concepts between platforms was demonstrated. Overall, entries to the AIBs demonstrated journalists’ determination everywhere to get to the heart of a story, skilful use of terrific footage and world-class story telling.”
Hosted by Annabel Croft, Eurosport presenter and former tennis champion, the event was attended by senior executives, producers and journalists from media organisations around the world, and featured AWD ambassador Sarina Arnold and Swiss film maker Helen Stehli Pfister as special guests “in conversation”. The 2011 AIBs are sponsored by Eurosport, OASYS, Russian Travel Guide TV and Vizrt.
The 2011 AIBs | Winners and highly commended finalists
Clearest coverage of a single news event – TV
Winner
CBS, USA for “60 Minutes: A Relentless Enemy”
—“nobody could get closer to the story in Afghanistan than Lara Logan and the CBS crew who delivered a gripping yet measured report”—
Highly commended
BBC World News, UK for “Coverage of the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami”
—“gripping television which succeeded in personalising the tragedy of a nation”—
NHK, Japan for “Departing in Dignity”
—“a mortician has to prepare a mother killed in the tsunami for her children to see months after her death a difficult story tastefully told”—
Clearest coverage of a single news event – radio
Winner
BBC Radio 5 Live, UK for “Victoria Derbyshire: AV Mock Election”
“—a simple format that really worked, educating listeners while delivering comprehensive treatment of the issue, with excellent audience engagement”—
Highly commended
BBC Burmese Service, UK for “Release of Aung San Suu Kyi”
—“brought listeners close to the action and let them feel they were part of something momentous”—
Voice of America, USA for “Coverage of Egyptian Revolution”
—“well crafted, left the judges wanting more as they heard reports that brought the sense of hope among young protestors in Cairo alive”—
Most innovative technology
Sponsored by OASYS
Winner
Ideal Shopping Direct, UK for “USA Live”
—“an excellent concept, with simple execution this is a technological solution that’s ripe for exploitation by broadcasters around the world”—
Best creative feature – radio
Winner
RTE, Ireland for “Dont Go Far”
—“story telling at its best great use of music and sounds”—
Highly commended
Société Radio-Canada, Canada for “The Spirit of Places”
—“commissioned by a radio station that’s prepared to take risks, very well crafted”—
Voice of Nigeria, Nigeria for “Child Marriage”
—“very powerful story, using interviews interspersed with drama to confront this difficult subject”—
Best business programme
Winner
Société Radio-Canada, Canada for “Meltdown”
—“telling the story of the financial collapse in an accessible way, using language that can be understood by any viewer even though it includes interviews with some of the most prominent figures involved in the crisis”—
Best current affairs documentary – domestic
Winner
NHK, Japan for “Surviving the Tsunami”
—“a great, memorable production, incorporating NHK footage and amateur videos, based on extensive research to piece together these stories of human survival”—
Highly commended
Current TV, UK for “Gail Porter on Prostitution”
—“Gail Porter’s presentation is inspirational”—
Best live sports coverage
Sponsored by Vizrt
Winner
Nine Network, Australia for “2010 State of Origin”
—“a winning formula, extensive close-up and wide shots without disruption allowed viewers to experience the game’s intensity seamlessly”—
Highly commended
Sony Professional & Others, UK for “Wimbledon in 3D”
—“great camera angles captured the emotion and drama”—
BBC Birmingham, UK for “Stoke City in the FA Cup Final”
—“a Cinderalla story with a twist in the coverage, providing thorough insight”—
Best investigative documentary – TV
Winner
Danmarks Radio, Denmark for “The Man Who Lied the World into War”
—“a triumph in every respect, the depth and verve of the reporting was amazing”—
Highly commended
Al Jazeera English, Qatar for “On a Wing and a Prayer”
—“a courageous, challenging and intriguing documentary”—
Channel NewsAsia, Mediacorp, Singapore for “Unbroken Faith”
—“very well researched and good use of archive material”—
Antena 3, Romania for “The Poison in our Homes”
—“a touching and striking programme, with clever use of stop-action figures”—
Best investigative documentary – radio
Winner
Czech Radio, Czech Republic for “Pilot and Death”
—“excellent investigation, with thorough research, presented in a highly ‘listenable’ way”—
Highly commended
RFE/RL, Czech Republic for “The Invisible Women of Osh”
—“a story that definitely needed to be told, both shocking and highly revealing”—
Most creative marketing strategy
Winner
France 24, France for “The Birds”
—“a fantastic campaign, combining video with print and online adverts to promote France 24 Twitter feeds”—
Best current affairs documentary – international
Sponsored by RTG TV
Winner
True Vision, UK for “Zimbabwes Forgotten Children”
—“a genuinely engaging narrative that is emotional, informative and motivating”—
Highly commended
BSkyB, UK for “Ross Kemp: Extreme World”
—“a bold approach to a difficult subject”—
Channel 4, UK for “Dispatches: The Battle for Haiti”
—“first-hand interviews with victims of the gangs provided a compelling account”—
Best current affairs documentary radio
Winner
Radio Taiwan International, ROC Taiwan for “Freeing Taiwans Slaves”
—“treated a highly sensitive subject, with excellent research and competently told”—
Best current affairs documentary Middle East
Winner
BBC, UK for “Panorama: Fighting Gaddafi”
—“time and effort invested in research shows through in the range of interviewees, unique footage is woven into a story that engages the viewer”—
Highly commended
BBC Arabic, UK for “Revolution Diary”
—“a format that worked well in the coverage of so many disparate events”—
Best cross-media production
Sponsored by Eurosport
Winner
Danmarks Radio, Denmark for “1864”
—“a historical event recounted for modern audiences with an extremely high level of integration”—
Highly commended
Czech Radio, Czech Republic for “Secret Defence of the Iron Curtain”
—“very good use of multimedia to engage audiences, in what for some users is probably a gaming experience the project is continuing to deliver results”—
Best science programme
Winner
BSkyB, UK for “Flying Monsters 3D”
—“excellent in every way: the editing, the animation, the interviews are all world class”—
Highly commended
KBS, South Korea for “Exploring Human Memory”
—“great writing, editing, visuals and narration”—
RTG TV, Russia for “Volcanoes of Kamchatka”
—“beautifully shot and highly accessible to viewers”—
Best childrens programme
Winner
BBC, UK for “Newsround: Growing up in a War Zone”
—“highly educational, with a compelling mix of history and contemporary life the stories will resonate with young audiences in other societies”—
The AIB/Yahoo! Maktoob People’s Choice
Winner
Alhurra, USA for “Egyptian revolution”
—“with correspondents on the ground, Alhurra talked to many people throughout Egypt, uncovering their demands and their hopes”—
AIB Founders Award
SRF, Switzerland for “Two Women, One Journey”
—“viewing this documentary is a highly emotional experience, it draws you in”—
International radio personality
Winner
Farshid Manafi
—“has been working in radio since he was 18 with a passion that is palpable when you listen to his programmes”—
International TV personality
Winner
Sir David Attenborough
—“has a special way of connecting with his audience and has led innovation in TV production over the last half century”—
—ENDS—
Media contact
Gunda Cannon gunda.cannon@aib.org.uk T +44 (0)20 7993 2557
AIB, PO Box 141, Cranbrook TN17 9AJ, UK
Notes for Editors
The 2011 AIBs | Judges
The judges for the AIBs have a vast range of experience in different aspects of broadcasting and are drawn from all over the world. The full list is:
Daniel Adams, Head of International Content, Dailymotion, France | Nashwa Al Ruwaini, CEO, Pyramedia, UAE| Salim Amin, Chairman, A24 Media, Kenya | David Astley, Executive Chairman, Asia-Pacific Media Alliance for Social Awareness, Singapore | Nigel Baker, VP Business Operations EMEA and Asia, APTN, UK | Wayne Borg, Deputy CEO and COO, twofour54, UAE | Julian Clover, Editorial Director, Broadband TV News, UK | Eugen Cojocariu, Director, Radio Romania International, Romania | Helle Dale, Senior Fellow for Public Diplomacy, The Heritage Foundation, USA | David Dufresne, Writer/Director, DufLab, Canada | Hosam El Sokkari, Head of Audience, Yahoo! Middle East, UAE | Mark Errington, CEO, OASYS, UK | Adelheid Feilcke-Tiemann, Director International Relations, Deutsche Welle, Germany | Monica Fritz, Producer/Director, 6 news, Turkey | Angela Fung, Deputy Head Phoenix Chinese Channel, Phoenix Satellite TV, Hong Kong | Regina Goh, Executive Editor, Channel NewsAsia, Singapore | Peter Goldstein, Director of Communications, InterMedia, USA | Mohamed Ali Harrath, CEO, Islam Channel, UK | Mondher Kalai, Commissioning Executive, JCC, Qatar | Kim Hyuk-dong, Deputy Director, KBS World Radio, Korea | François Laborie, Chief Commercial Officer, Vizrt, Norway | Paulo Markun, Consultant, TV Escola, Brazil | Chris Maroleng, Africa Editor, e.tv, South Africa | Michael McCluskey, CEO, ABC Radio Australia, Australia | Marcus Metzner, Head of Marketing Services & Communication, arvato systems GmbH, Germany | Olivier de Montchenu, Commercial & Marketing Director, Euronews, France | Dick van Motman, President & CEO, DDB Greater China Group, PR China | Alexey Nikolov, Deputy Editor in Chief, RT Channel, Russia | Ian O’Reilly, Producer/Director, BBC News TV, UK | Nader Sh. Rad, Director Programmes Department, PressTV, Iran | Julia Ragona, Chief Broadcast Operations Officer, RFE/RL, Czech Republic | Dick Rempt, CEO, TalentsMedia, The Netherlands | Paul Robinson, MD, KidsCo, UK | Karim Sarkis, Executive Director of Broadcast, Abu Dhabi Media Company, UAE | Vatche Sarkisian, Director of Research and Program Review, Middle East Broadcasting Networks, USA | Danny Schechter, Executive Producer, Globalvision, USA | Simon Spanswick, CEO, AIB, UK | Fedor Strizhkov, CEO, Russian Travel Guide TV, Russia | David Treadway, Managing Director, WRN Broadcast, UK | Jeff Trimble, Executive Director, Broadcasting Board of Governors, USA | Laeed Zaghlami, Journalist/Writer, Algeria
The 2011 AIBs | Sponsors
Eurosport are the sponsors of the AIBs category Best cross-media production. Eurosport is the leading sports entertainment group in Europe and boasts six TV channels worldwide. The flagship channel Eurosport is the no 1 pan-European TV channel, broadcast in 20 languages and reaching 125 million homes across 59 countries.
OASYS are the sponsors of the AIBs category Most innovative technology. OASYS has been leading the transition to software-based playout solutions for 20 years. The companys flagship product, OASYS Player, is complemented by straightforward optional OASYS software to provide efficient, high quality, end-to-end playout solutions that are easy-to-use, scalable, flexible and, most importantly, highly reliable.
RTG TV are the sponsors of the AIBs category Best current affairs documentary. Russian Travel Guide TV is an international documentary TV channel focused on the cultural and geographical variety of the worlds largest country. It covers a wide range of topics from history to culture, cuisine, nature programmes, active holidays, and Russias ethnic mix.
Vizrt are the sponsors of the AIBs category Best live sports coverage.Vizrt creates leading-edge content production tools for the digital media industry from award-winning 3D graphics and maps through integrated video workflow solutions and online publishing tools. Vizrt proposes a new vision for content creation, management and delivery with an end-to-end solution from conception to multi-format distribution.
Yahoo! Maktoob are hosting the viewing and voting for the Peoples Choice category Best Coverage of Democracy Uprisings. Yahoo Maktoob! has an audience of over 55 million people in the Middle East and North Africa. Yahoo!, the premier digital media company, creates deeply personal digital experiences that keep more than half a billion people connected to what matters most to them, across devices and around the globe.
About the AIB
Established in 1993, the AIB is the international industry association and global knowledge network for the international broadcasting industry cross-media, cross-border, cross-cultural. With a reach of over 25,000 communicators and media professionals, AIB is a unique centre of information about international broadcasting, covering TV, radio, online and mobile. AIB researches regular market intelligence briefings for its members and provides client-specific consultancy and project support. Members receive an extensive package of services throughout the year. AIB publishes the comprehensive Global Broadcasting Sourcebook and the international media magazine, The Channel. AIB hosts the annual AIB International Media Excellence Awards the “AIBs”. For more information, visit www.aib.org.uk and theaibs.tv or call +44 (0) 20 7993 2557